Robbie Grabarz to miss European title defence

Olympic high jump bronze medallist ruled out for the summer as he requires knee surgery

Robbie Grabarz is to miss the 2014 outdoor season as he requires surgery for a long-standing knee problem.

The Olympic bronze medallist is said to have suffered a recurrence of an on-going tendon problem in his left knee.

It means the 2012 European high jump champion will miss the chance to defend his title in Zurich, as well as the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this summer.

“We had to look at the long-term outlook and I need to be operating at 100 percent not 90-95 percent as I have been doing,” said Grabarz.

“The knee has been a problem for about a year. I need the surgery now as I don’t want to compromise my performances by not sorting this problem out.

“I’m gutted I won’t be able to defend my European title and compete at the Commonwealth Games. It’s totally upsetting as I just want to compete at major championships and challenge for medals. It’s a long term decision with 2015 and 2016 in mind.”

His coach Fuzz Ahmed commented: “This is a new and difficult challenge for Robbie.

“Robbie’s team is going to embrace this journey and draw upon our collective experience to ensure Robbie comes back a better athlete.

“This became a worsening problem and now is the time to act. For a number of seasons we have managed the symptoms but now we must address the cause in order to be ready for Rio.”

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